Kane Parsons Reportedly Set to Direct A24’s ‘Backrooms 2’

Kane Parsons is reportedly returning to direct Backrooms 2 for A24. Dread Central, which described the news as exclusive, reports that Parsons has officially signed on, although the outlet says a formal announcement is still imminent. JoBlo Horror Movie News has also reported the development, citing Dread Central’s story. The sequel is expected to be Parsons’ next movie. That decision comes despite his ongoing development of another project with Backrooms producer and mentor Osgood Perkins. According to Dread Central, Perkins helped Parsons develop the original feature’s screenplay and provided mentorship during the filmmaker’s first feature production. Backrooms became a major theatrical success for A24. The film reportedly earned $394.1 million worldwide against an estimated $10 million budget, making it the distributor’s highest-grossing release. The feature grew out of Parsons’ Kane Pixels YouTube videos, including The Backrooms (Found Footage), which he uploaded in 2022 when he was 16. Dread Central reports that the nine-minute video has accumulated roughly 80 million views. The original online series expanded on the existing Backrooms mythology through interconnected analog-horror shorts. The feature adaptation was acquired by A24 after executive producer Chris White discovered Parsons’ work and brought the project to James Wan and Michael Clear at Atomic Monster. Parsons previously indicated that the property was intended to extend beyond a single film. In comments to Variety, he described Backrooms as a larger series and said he was contractually committed to future installments, with specific story elements already in development. The first movie also introduced Async, an organization studying the Backrooms phenomenon, into its story. Dread Central reports that Parsons is now officially attached to direct Backrooms 2. No release date or additional casting has been announced in the supplied reports.